What SKIYAKI does

SKIYAKI Inc., founded in 2003 and headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, operates an integrated fan engagement platform serving creators (musicians, actors, athletes, idols, podcasters) and their fan communities in Japan and select Asian markets. Its core product is Bitfan, a multi-tenant SaaS platform combining fan club management, e-commerce for merchandise, electronic ticketing, live streaming, and community chat. Bitfan is offered on a freemium model (Bitfan free tier) with a custom-priced enterprise upgrade (Bitfan Pro), supporting both individual creators and large entertainment companies. The company monetizes through subscription fees (¥440–¥3,500/month per fan club), transaction fees on merchandise and ticketing, event management services, the SKIYAKI PAY QR-code payment system for event venues, and advertising on the LiveFans media property. LiveFans, Japan's largest user-contributed music live information service, accumulates 60 years of historical data — 1.2 million performances and 400,000 setlists — and reaches 1.2 million monthly active users. Distribution leverages Japanese-specific payment rails (docomo/au/SoftBank carrier billing, convenience store payments, Paidy) and content integrations (YouTube Data API, Agora live streaming SDK).

As of March 2024, SKIYAKI completed a management integration with Space Shower Network and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Space Shower SKIYAKI Holdings (TSE Standard: 4838), resulting in delisting from TSE Growth Market. The group combines Space Shower's music media operations with SKIYAKI's fan platform technology. SKIYAKI holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification and reports 1.1M+ paid members on Bitfan (2023), 95.5% engineering team retention, and a 51–100 employee headcount. The company maintains subsidiaries in live event production and media (Rock Garage, acquired 2015; SEA Global, 2018; Real Emotion) and a minority stake in MasterVisions (VR content, 2016).

Name

SKIYAKI

Legal name

株式会社SKIYAKI

Website

https://skiyaki.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

SKIYAKI operates Bitfan, a Japan-based fan engagement SaaS platform offering fan clubs, e-commerce, ticketing, and live streaming for 100+ creators serving 1.1M+ paid members, complemented by the LiveFans music live information media property.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fan Engagement Platform

NAICS

Spectator Sports (71121), Sports Teams and Clubs (711211)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Paid Live Events & Virtual Tickets (Webinars/Streams) (MPACAFAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Live Event Marketing, Sponsorship & Brand Partnerships (MPAIAFAI), Merchandising & On-Site Retail (Tour Merch, Pop-ups) (MPAIAFAJ)

Keywords

• Fan club management
• Creator economy platform
• Live event ticketing
• Fan engagement software
• Artist merchandise ecommerce

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel

Revenue model

1. Fan Club Platform Subscriptions: SKIYAKI charges monthly or annual subscription fees for fan club access across its Bitfan platform. Pricing ranges from ¥440–¥3,500/month for individual creator fan clubs, with annual options and varying content access levels. Enterprise-level Bitfan Pro deployments generate higher per-creator revenue through custom contracts.
2. EC / Merchandise Sales: SKIYAKI operates EC storefronts for artists and creators selling official goods. Revenue is generated on a per-transaction basis through commission or direct sales arrangements.
3. Electronic Ticketing: The company provides ticketing services for events, selling tickets online through the Bitfan platform and collecting fees per ticket sold.
4. Event Management: SKIYAKI organizes and supports both real-world and online events for creators, generating revenue through event ticket sales and associated service fees.
5. SKIYAKI PAY (Payment Processing): Smartphone QR code payment service for event merchandise. SKIYAKI earns transaction fees on payments processed through the SKIYAKI PAY system at events.
6. Digital Content Sales: Sale of digital content including exclusive videos, photo galleries, streaming content, and downloadable media within fan club environments.
7. Advertising (LiveFans Media): LiveFans operates as a media property generating advertising revenue through promotional content and sponsored articles targeting music and live event enthusiasts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SKIYAKI operates the Bitfan all-in-one fan platform that enables creators, artists, athletes, and entertainment companies to launch and manage fan clubs, sell official merchandise via integrated e-commerce, issue electronic event tickets, deliver live streaming content, and run community engagement features. The company also operates LiveFans, one of Japan's largest user-contributed music live event information services with 1.2 million monthly users, and provides the SKIYAKI PAY smartphone payment system for event venues.

Product overview

SKIYAKI operates an omnichannel platform for creators and fans, consisting of the core Bitfan all-in-one fan platform (with Bitfan and Bitfan Pro tiers), complemented by SKIYAKI PAY/SKIYAKI PAY +Regi for payment services, and the LiveFans music live information media service. The platform also includes Be independent! as a media property. Together these products enable fan club management, EC, electronic ticketing, event management, and live streaming services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Bitfan: All-in-one fan platform for managing fan clubs, EC, tickets, events, and community engagement
• Bitfan Pro
• LiveFans
• Be independent!
• SKIYAKI PAY
• SKIYAKI PAY +Regi

Products and services

• Bitfan An all-in-one fan club platform offering free and paid membership tiers with fan club management, integrated EC storefronts, electronic ticketing, live streaming, group chat, and event management for creators, artists, and entertainers.
• Bitfan Pro An enterprise-grade custom fan engagement platform providing tailored design, advanced functionality, and dedicated support for large entertainment companies, talent agencies, and major creators operating at scale.
• LiveFans A user-contributed music live event information service providing concert discovery, setlist database, and promotional content for music fans and event promoters across Japan.
• SKIYAKI PAY A QR code-based smartphone payment service enabling cashless payments at event venues, integrating with Bitfan for fan engagement data tracking and offering offline payment capability.
• SKIYAKI PAY +Regi A POS register application for SKIYAKI PAY providing offline payment functionality, training mode, and credit card payment support via PAYGATE AIR for event merchandise sellers.
• Be independent! A media platform featuring editorial content about creators who live creatively and independently, supporting independent artists and their creative journeys.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.1M+ paid members on the Bitfan platform (2023)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability3 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.

• Oricon Research Inc. (オリコン)minorOthers · 1 January 2024SKIYAKI provides Anonymously Processed Information (匿名加工情報) to Oricon Research Inc. (address: 8-10 Roppongi 6-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo) as part of its data monetization practices, for the purpose of producing statistical information.
• HANSHIN CONTENTS LINK CORPORATIONminorOthers · 1 January 2024SKIYAKI provides Anonymously Processed Information (匿名加工情報) to HANSHIN CONTENTS LINK CORPORATION (address: MUPR Roppongiazabudai Building 6F, 8-7 Roppongi 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo) for statistical research purposes.
• Google Inc. (YouTube Data API)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024SKIYAKI's services use YouTube Data API to retrieve and display video content within fan club environments. The YouTube Data API is used to fetch video information and related content. Usage is governed by YouTube Terms of Service and Google's Privacy Policy.
• Spaceshower SKIYAKI Holdings (スペースシャワースカイキーホールディングス)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024As of March 2024, SKIYAKI became a wholly-owned subsidiary of スペースシャワースカイキーホールディングス株式会社 (TSE Standard: 4838) following a management integration with スペースシャワーネットワーク株式会社. SKIYAKI was delisted from TSE Growth and operates as a group company under the parent.
• 株式会社VoicycoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024SKIYAKI and Voicy co-host events (e.g., 'クリエイター・エコノミーのシゴト #2' in July 2022) and share speaker platforms. CEO 小久保 appeared on Voicy's leadership podcast series. The two companies collaborate on creator economy thought leadership and community events.
• スペースシャワーネットワーク株式会社flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2023SKIYAKI completed a management integration with Space Shower Network in March 2024, forming スペースシャワースカイキーホールディングス株式会社 (TSE Standard: 4838). The two companies were featured in a Musicman interview discussing '音楽とファンダム結婚' (The Marriage of Music and Fandom). This is a flagship strategic integration combining SKIYAKI's fan platform with Space Shower's music media and entertainment network.
• 株式会社ブイキューブ (vcube)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2022SKIYAKI's Bitfan platform embeds Agora video/live streaming SDK provided by vcube (株式会社ブイキューブ) to enable real-time live streaming within fan club environments. vcube featured Bitfan as a case study customer on their website, demonstrating how Agora SDK powers Bitfan's live streaming functionality. This is a core platform technology integration.
• テクノスデータサイエンス・エンジニアリング株式会社minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2018SKIYAKI and Techno Data Science Engineering entered a business partnership (業務提携) as reported in the 日本ネット経済新聞 March 2018. The nature of the partnership involves data science and analytics capabilities.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Etsy: Global marketplace for handmade goods and creator merchandise with established payments and shipping infrastructure. Comparable as a broad incumbent in creator merchandise commerce — a key adjacent revenue stream for Bitfan alongside fan-club subscriptions.

Emerging players

• Substack: Subscription newsletter and podcast monetization platform that has expanded into broader creator tools. Comparable as an emerging creator-monetization platform, though it focuses on written/audio content rather than SKIYAKI's fan-club-plus-live-events mix.
• Buy Me a Coffee: Lightweight creator-monetization platform offering memberships, one-off tips and digital goods sales. Comparable to Bitfan's lower end of subscription tiers and merchandise sales for solo creators.
• Steady: Berlin-based membership platform for independent journalists, podcasters and creators with tiered paid subscriptions. Comparable to Bitfan's tiered fan-club model, particularly for podcast and audio creator use cases like TBS's OVER THE SUN.
• Ko-fi: Creator-support platform offering tipping, memberships, shop and commission tools. Comparable as an alternative to Bitfan's lower-tier fan-club and merch EC features, especially for individual creators.

Direct peers

• Bandcamp (Songtradr): Music-focused artist-direct platform for selling music, merch and fan memberships. Comparable to Bitfan's music-creator focus, EC and ticketing stack, with strong overlap on independent artist monetization.
• ANYCOLOR (Fanicon): ANYCOLOR operates Fanicon, Japan's largest dedicated fan-club platform for VTubers and creators. Direct competitor to Bitfan with the same core model of paid fan memberships, EC, and ticketing inside a single creator-facing platform, primarily serving the Japanese market.
• Memberful: White-label membership platform powering paid communities and digital subscriptions for independent creators and publishers. Closely comparable to Bitfan's multi-tenant SaaS fan-club architecture with tiered paid access.
• Patreon: Global subscription platform for creators to monetize fan relationships with tiered memberships and paid content. Direct peer in the creator-monetization and fan-membership category that SKIYAKI's Bitfan competes in, particularly for cross-border independent creators.

Regional players

• pixta (PIXTA): Japanese stock-photo and illustration marketplace with creator monetization and subscription features. Comparable as a Japan-headquartered creator-economy platform, though focused on visual content rather than live events and fan clubs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCuBxHn精密3Os1C9FZ7K5g

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments7 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SKIYAKI